Brewers send former closer Corey Knebel to Triple-A

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Brewers demoted ex-closer and 2017 All-Star Corey Knebel to Triple-A Colorado Springs on Friday to work on his mechanics.

It’s been a dramatic fall this season for Knebel, who until late July was Milwaukee’s closer.

The right-hander has a 7.24 ERA since the All-Star break that has raised his season ERA to 5.08. In his last seven appearances, Knebel is 0-2 with an 11.37 ERA.

“This isn’t really a demotion. It’s a break,” general manager David Stearns said. “Allow him some time to really work on some things in bullpen sessions. It’s really tough for active relief pitchers at the major league level to do that during the normal course of a season because they need to pitch in games every single night.”

The Brewers also reinstated right-hander Joakim Soria from the 10-day disabled list before Friday’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Soria had been dealing with a right adductor strain. He was obtained in a trade with the White Sox on July 26.

Last season, Knebel had a 1.78 ERA and 39 saves in 76 appearances.

“He’s going to work for a couple days and then he’ll report to Colorado Springs to get a couple outings in,” manager Craig Counsell said. “We’ll do some more here with him in a situation where he can do a little bit of mechanical work. It’s not easy and we don’t have a lot of time left to make adjustments, so it’s difficult. But we thought the best chance for us to get Corey throwing the ball well again is to give him this break, give him some time to work and then see what we’ve got and go after it in September.”

Right-hander Zach Davies also was reinstated from the 10-day disabled list. He was optioned to Single-A Wisconsin.